Conspiracy theorist and snake oil salesman Alex Jones had a special Christmas message for his old friend, former President Donald Trump, calling him “one of the most evil men who has ever lived.”
Jones’ melodramatic condemnation was provoked by Trump’s recent interview with right-wing culture warrior Candace Owens, in which Trump uncharacteristically sided with science and reason, repeatedly insisting that the COVID-19 vaccine is perfectly safe, much to Owens’ horror.
It is a deliciously awkward interview, in which Owens (a staunch COVID anti-vaxxer) is clearly taken aback by Trump’s enthusiasm for the vaccine, and desperately attempts to shift the conversation towards vaccine mandates, which Trump does not endorse.
Trump, however, didn’t allow himself to be distracted for long, and continued to emphasize not only the safety of the vaccine, but the danger of being unvaccinated during a global pandemic. Predictably, the former president credits himself for the creation of the vaccine, but made it explicitly clear that he believes the vaccine is saving lives. Trump said:
“I came up with a vaccine, with three vaccines. All are very, very good. Came up with three of them in less than nine months. It was supposed to take five to 12 years.”
Owens quickly pushed back, saying:
“And yet more people have died under COVID-19 this year, by the way, under Joe Biden than under you. And more people took the vaccine this year, so people are questioning how…”
Trump didn’t let Owens finish, confidently stating:
“Oh no, the vaccines work, but some people aren’t taking them. The ones that get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones who don’t take their vaccine. But it’s still their choice, and if you take the vaccine you’re protected. Look, the results of the vaccine are very good. And if you do get it, it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.”
The Owens interview isn’t the first time Trump has endorsed the vaccine (he has mentioned it before, only to be met with boos by his audience), but the interview is certainly the first time Trump has spoken about the vaccine for a prolonged period of time, with clarity and enthusiasm, making his opinion on the matter impossible to deny, even to the most feverishly delusional segment of his fanbase.
Hence, Jones (also a staunch anti-vaxxer, obviously), went on one of his infamous rants, practically bursting a blood vessel in his fury, stating:
“But now that you know that [Anthony] Fauci signed you onto a fraud, you must extricate yourself from this lie, or you will be forever known as the M.V.V.P., the Most Valuable Vaccine Pusher, and the name Trump will be associated with pure evil. Do not go down history as Josef Mengele 2.0.”
Jones continued, branding Trump a “coward” but urging him to “turn back,” saying:
“Your legacy will be that of a monster. Your legacy will be that of a eugenicist. Your legacy will be that of a child killer, using medical tyranny.”
But Jones wasn’t alone in feeling angered and betrayed by Trump’s comments; the Owens interview sent shockwaves through MAGA-land, as Trump’s fanbase grappled with the former president aggressively pushing back against the murky misinformation spread by right-wing media personalities like Owens and Jones.
Indeed, Owens appeared to panic after the interview dropped, releasing a video in which she emphasized Trump’s advanced age and his “mainstream media” diet, in a desperate attempt to “explain” his endorsement of the vaccine to her furious followers.
Alex Jones, however, made no excuses for the former president. Initially one of Trump’s most passionate and vocal supporters, Jones eventually found himself overshadowed by the QAnon conspiracy theory, which, being a crowd-sourced narrative, never required Jones’ output to spread.
Indeed, in a leaked outtake from an interview for the documentary You Can’t Watch This, filmed in 2019, Jones admitted that he wished he “never would have f***ing met Trump.”
“I’m so sick of f***ing Donald Trump, man,” Jones said. “God, I’m f***ing sick of him. And I’m not doing this because, like, I’m kissing his f***ing ass, you know. It’s, like, I’m sick of it.”
